Michigan's Great Lakes Case Study

As Doidge et al. illustrate, the historical background of Flint City’s drinking water supply emanated from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. This was through a contractual basis for over three decades, and its main source of water was Lake Huron. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is an extensive system encompassing almost 1,080 square-miles, and provides to more than two fifths of the Michigan State population. In the year 2000 alone, the system covered 11,000 miles of water channels with a storage volume of about 360 million gallons. It supplied water to nearly four million people in Detroit and its metropolitan locale.

     Keeping the pollution to a minimal isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do. The major water pollutants are chemical, biological, or physical materials that

On December 3rd, 2015, the mayor of Flint, MI Karen Weaver declared a state of emergency because of the high levels of lead in the water supply. Two weeks later President Obama directed FEMA to help provide equipment and resources to the citizens affected, including providing bottled water and local water stations around the city. On March 21st, 2016, Governor Rick Snyder came out with an outline that addresses the agencies goal to help fix the crisis. It focused on providing professional support for children under 6 with elevated lead levels, replacing water fixtures in public facilities, replacing the city’s 8,000 lead service lines, and increasing resources for schools. (Michigan.gov. 2017). Through April to July 2016, nine state officials and employees face criminal

1.The term "Three Fires" refers to the dominant tribes in Michigan during the early 1600s. The three tribes were:

She fights for the economy and the middle class, working to turn Michigan’s economy around and cut taxes for the middle class. Yet, most of the biggest issues in Michigan deal with the environment such as solar energy, the dying off of bees and global warming. However, the most pressing issue in Michigan environment is the pollution in the water, especially in the Great Lakes and more recently with the toxic water in Flint. Protecting the Great Lakes is one of Stabenow’s most important issues as she “believes protecting our Great Lakes for future generations must be a top priority” (“Protecting Our Great Lakes”). In Flint, the entire water supply was toxic and dangerously unsafe to use, severely harming hundreds of people as there was no other water to use. It became a huge controversy as news was leaked that the mayor of Flint knew about the toxic water supply and did nothing to stop the problem. Stabenow has been a huge supporter in helping Flint get the clean water the town deserves. Stabenow and Gary Peters, the other Michigan senator, proposed a 220-million-dollar bill that would directly help the situation and Flint and hopefully give them new, clean water (Burke, “$220M Proposal Affecting

Lake Erie is thriving biologically but not in the way one might think. It’s poisoned with toxic algal blooms that grow in the phosphorus-concentrated waters millions of Canadians and Americas alike depend on for drinking water. Unfortunately, this is also not the first time this has happened to the Great, not-so-great Lake.

For many years, I have always wondered how Michigan was shaped. I did not realize that water could have such a huge impact on the way Michigan was made. From doing research, I recognized that there has been four Ice Ages on Earth. The last Ice Age, Pleistocene Epoch began and ended two million years to 12,000 years. At this time, hot and cold temperatures swayed and glaciers receded to advance into the interglacial periods. In the United States, and around the world glaciers have carved out our landscape, making what the world is today.

The Flint water crisis is an issue that has been plaguing the state of Michigan for over two years and has no feasible end in sight. The neglect of various government officials and employees has culminated in a public health danger for thousands of Michigan residents, by way of consumption of water with high levels of lead. Though the individuals deemed responsible for this deplorable situation have lost or resigned from their positions, and some criminal charges have been brought about, there is still a lot that has to be done to try and repair the damage that they did.

The state of Michigan is in a serious crisis! The governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, seems to not care about the poor people of the state of Michigan. One of the state of Michigan’s urban school system, in the city of Detroit, is unhealthy, disorganized and is not equipped with the necessary supplies, equipment or resources to effectively or safely teach students. The water pipes in Flint, Michigan are filled with lead and citizens in Flint who drink, bathe, and cook with the municipal water have incurred lead poisoning.

Michigan is the only state in the union composed to two separated peninsulas. At the closest point, the upper and lower peninsulas are a mere five miles apart. In the early twentieth century, the only way to make the trip across the five miles of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron was to take a boat ride from one side to the other. As businesses expanded and industry grew, the demand to cross the lakes for travel and commerce purposes grew. The only way to cross the lake was by means of a ferry service, which was unable to keep up with consumer demand. Michigan residents were unable to get convenient and frequent transport between the peninsulas. They needed a consistent, fast, and safe way to travel freely from the mainland to the

Clean drinking water is a necessity in everybody’s life. Many cities take for granted their seemingly infinite amount of water available to them but for Flint, Michigan residents, there is no such luxury. Many people in that area have been sickened or even killed with the water that is available to them. Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan should resign due to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan because his negligence may have long and short term effects on the health of the city’s residents. There is no excuse for how he is handling this; slowly, and ineffectively.

In Michigan, upwards of 35 million gallons of freshwater are expelled from close-by aquifers per frack well — the most noteworthy rate in the country. The Anglers of the Au Sable, a Michigan natural preservation gathering, and others, stress this will drain freshwater sources and conceivably become scarce waterways and streams that are critical to Michigan's environmental

This policy memo is addressed to Congressman David Joyce who represents the 14th District of Ohio. Congressman Joyce is a Republican who could be considered a moderate conservative on an ideological scale, meaning that he is about halfway between moderate and far-leaning right (Rep. David Joyce, 2016). Issues that Joyce works toward are the economy and jobs, which is his number one priority, and is also against regulations and taxes. Joyce is heavily involved in energy with a focus on supporting the coal, wind, and natural gas industries, in addition he is against policies that may burden small businesses. The Great Lakes and environment are a priority for Joyce as he wants to protect the Great Lakes, but mainly for economic purposes. Joyce has sponsored three bills that work to protect and/or restore the Great Lakes. He has not been vocal in regards to whether or not he believes in climate change, although his stance toward coal and natural gas would suggest that he may not, although this may be solely to protect Ohioan jobs. Additional issues that he works toward are defense & national security, health care, the national debt, tax reform, veterans, and seniors (Issues & Legislation, 2016).

71 percent of the earth’s surface is made of water. 97 percent of earths water is saline water and not safe for human consumption. This leaves just 3 percent of earth’s water as fresh water most of which is icecaps and glaciers. 68 percent of the fresh water on Earth is found in icecaps and glaciers. 30 percent of fresh water is found in ground water leaving around .3 percent of earth’s water as surface fresh water. Of the .3 percent of surface fresh water the great lakes make up 84% of North America 's surface fresh water and about 21% of the world 's supply of surface fresh water. ("Great Lakes Facts and Figures." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2016.)

The purpose of this report is to propose a solution to the problem of reduced drinking water quality due to chemical pollution. Some bodies of water in the United States are becoming polluted from chemicals and restrictions are needed to protect drinking water quality.